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Thursday, 14 September 2017

Review: Godsgrave - Jay Kristoff

From the bestselling author, Jay Kristoff, comes the second book in the Nevernight Chronicle.

Conquer your fear, conquer the world

Mia Corvere, destroyer of empires, has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry do not believe she has earned it.

Her position is precarious, and she's still no closer to exacting revenge for the brutal death of her family. But after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself.

When it is announced that Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself into slavery for a chance to fulfill the promise she made on the day she lost everything.

Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold, secrets are revealed and the body count rises within the collegium walls, Mia will be forced to choose between her loyalties and her revenge.

The Nevernight Chronicles:NevernightGodsgrave
Final title and release date to be confirmed

Review:Nevernight was my favourite book of 2016 so it's no surprise that my expectations for the sequel were incredibly high, especially as I read Godsgrave immediately after rereading the first book! I wasn't sure that it would be possible for Jay Kristoff to top the level of awesome he'd already achieved but boy was I proved wrong and this book was off the charts epic. It was so impossibly good that I've been struggling for weeks to write any kind of sensible review for it but I can guarantee it's on my favourite books of 2017 list.

While the first book was all about Mia's training as she fought to earn a place as a Blade for the Red Church the sequel is a whole different ball game as she focuses much more on getting revenge for the deaths of her family. Mia spends much of this story undercover as a slave and fighting with a group of Gladiatii in the arena. We're introduced to a whole new bunch of characters and I loved them all for different reasons, there was the fatherly Sidonius who keeps Mia's secrets and is the joker of the group, brother and sister team, Byern and Bryn, who are champion chariot riders, Bladesinger, a kickass female warrior who is even better with a blade than Mia, and Furian, the champion who holds himself above the others and doesn't like the way Mia wants to take his crown. They're all trained by ex-champion Arkades and a young servant called Maggot is their healer. The group are owned by Dona Leona who is trying to prove herself to her father and the other nobles, she wants to make a name for herself and she doesn't care what price her gladiatii have to pay for that. It was so hard not to become attached to most of these characters but if you read the first book then you should already be wary about that because you know Jay Kristoff isn't afraid to kill major cast members so expect to have your heart ripped to shreds again here.

This entire series has been a complete rollercoaster, nothing is ever quite what it seems, there are betrayals within betrayals, friends become enemies and enemies can become allies. It's impossible to know who to trust and even our main character Mia has moments where she does things you would rather she didn't. Overall I just love Mia though, she's so fierce and determined to avenge her family and absolutely nothing will sway her from her goal. My other favourite characters include Mr Kindly and Eclipse, the two daemons that accompany Mia everywhere thanks to her darkin powers, the two spend a lot of time bickering but they are both devoted to Mia and are a huge help when she's in danger. The series is brutal, bloody and violent, it's full of dark humour and heartbreak but one thing you'll never be is bored. The Nevernight Chronicles is a firm favourite and I'm already desperate to get my hands on the final book, after that ending I have no idea what to expect next but I definitely know it's going to be one hell of a ride!

Source: Received from Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review

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